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How to get more smoke?

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  • Member since
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  • From: Chicago area
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How to get more smoke?
Posted by Arto on Wednesday, May 18, 2016 2:58 PM

How do I get more smoke from a steam loco? Do I just increase the heater setting? Is there any danger in turning the heater CV up to the max? Does this decrease heater lifespan/reliability?

The loco in question is a BLI T1 Duplex (as delivered version).

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Posted by tstage on Wednesday, May 18, 2016 6:29 PM

Arto

How do I get more smoke from a steam loco?

Run it on AC...Clown

https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling

Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.

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Posted by richg1998 on Wednesday, May 18, 2016 6:47 PM

lol

Rich

If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.

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Posted by richg1998 on Wednesday, May 18, 2016 8:06 PM

Just follow the instructions. F7 turns it on or off. There is an on off switch behind the smoke box cover. Not as convenient. I just looked at the manual on line.

Rich

If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.

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  • From: Collinwood, Ohio, USA
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Posted by gmpullman on Wednesday, May 18, 2016 8:34 PM

BLI Paragon 2 decoders have adjustable heat ranges for the smoke units.

CV 236 and 237 adjust the element heat.  

CV236 Temperature of element while moving: Default 80 range 0-110

 

CV237 Temperature while stopped: Default 50 range 0-50

 If it is Paragon 3 there are also CVs for delay and fan speeds as well.

Good Luck, Ed

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Posted by carl425 on Thursday, May 19, 2016 7:16 AM

Switch from EMD's to Alco's.

I have the right to remain silent.  By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.

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Posted by Arto on Thursday, May 19, 2016 12:33 PM

carl425

Switch from EMD's to Alco's.

 

W H A T ?

Baldwin isn't good enough? (for more smoke)

Laugh

  • Member since
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  • From: Chicago area
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Posted by Arto on Thursday, May 19, 2016 12:34 PM

BLI finally got back to me. Here's what they said:

The smoke unit may  be  highly  customized  by  controlling  the  fan  chuff  time on (CV234), the  fan  idle  power  (CV235),  the  heat  applied  during  the chuff (CV236) and the heat applied at idle (CV237).

Please be advised that if you set CV's 236 and 237 too high there is a small possibility of melting the boiler shell. 

After adding smoke fluid (using the funnel, 4-5 drops per 15 minutes of runtime with smoke on) we recommend blowing a quick and forceful puff of air down the smokestack to eliminate any smoke bubbles that may have formed. These are very common and will prevent any smoke from coming out at all.

Over time, if the smoke unit is run without sufficient saturation of the wicking material in the reservoir - it is possible that the wicking material could become hard, black, and charred - or even become caked around the heating element.

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Posted by Lake on Thursday, May 19, 2016 2:24 PM

Go with G scale or larger to get any where near realistic smoke.

Ken G Price   My N-Scale Layout

Digitrax Super Empire Builder Radio System. South Valley Texas Railroad. SVTRR

N-Scale out west. 1996-1998 or so! UP, SP, Missouri Pacific, C&NW.

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Posted by tomikawaTT on Saturday, May 21, 2016 12:14 AM

In my (not so) humble opinion, the only suitable simulation for the smoke put out by my model locomotives' prototypes is created by burning cheap coal in a firebox, then ejecting the combustion (and non-combustion) products up the stack with the exhaust from a pair of 550mm x 660mm cylinders.  Unfortunately, the gadget is too big to fit in my models.  Exactly 80 times too big.

Therefore, like pre-diesel SP in the LA basin, I operate with clear stacks.

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - 1:80 scale, aka HOj)

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Posted by Arto on Saturday, May 21, 2016 6:56 PM

I guess my recollection of how much smoke a model loco puts out goes back to my childhood Lionel days. But now that I think of it, when I'm at my friends O gauge layout the smoke didn't seem to last very long, had to be refilled often (I have two O gauge that I run there - Aerotrain & Pioneer Zephyr). As I stated above, BLI informed me that 4-5 drops lasts about 15 minutes. After adding more fluid and turning the heater CV up a little bit I had plenty of smoke for a short time. I've found most people hate the smell. When my wife came home she asked "What's that smell? Is something burning?" And that was easily 30 minutes after shutting everything down (with the HVAC whole house fan pulling air through an electronic filter).

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Posted by rrinker on Sunday, May 22, 2016 8:12 PM

 I was going to say, light it on fire. Big Smile

I'm waiting to see the new model that will have steam escaping around the cylinders as well as stack smoke - in such a case the typical white smoke produced by model smoke generators would eb perfectly appropriate.

                                 --Randy

 


Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's

 

Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.

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